Warren Group admits error in Sept. Mass. foreclosure data

BOSTON – The Warren Group has revised its September Massachusetts foreclosure start figures, acknowledging that the totals it initially released were incomplete.

As a result of the error, the real estate tracking firm had reported significant declines in year-over-year foreclosure starts during September, when in fact the number of new petitions surged statewide and in Bristol County (PBN has removed the story that was posted on Oct. 30 based on that incorrect data).

According to revised figures, lenders initiated 35 percent more foreclosures in Bristol County in September than they did during the same period in 2011.

There were 143 foreclosure petitions filed in September compared with 106 last year, the new totals said. The incomplete totals released late last month had reported only 97 Bristol County foreclosure starts.

Statewide, foreclosure starts rose 22 percent in September compared with September 2011, according to the revised report.

There were 1,420 petitions filed in the state in September compared with 1,164 last September. The incomplete report had included only 973 foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts.

“The corrections result from releasing preliminary data in error,” a Friday news release from The Warren Group said.

The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. had pointed to the incomplete numbers as “another strong indicator of a housing market recovery.”

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